


Messing with the Message

by aintitfun



Series: Off the Key of Reason [1]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Anxiety, Asexual Character, Coming Out, M/M, Religious Guilt, Sexuality Crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-04-02 03:01:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4043305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aintitfun/pseuds/aintitfun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"We need to talk." Josh gets an ominous text from Tyler and worries himself about it all day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Messing with the Message

“We need to talk.” Those four words always managed to strike fear into anyone, no matter how big or tough they may seem. Josh is tough, or so it seems. He has a mohawk, dyed blood red, his right arm is covered with ink, and his ears are stretched to 9/16th’s. He plays the drums and works at guitar center. Josh seems tough, but those four words have him gnawing at what’s left of his fingernails on his break.

 

Josh is gay, well bisexual, maybe pansexual? He’s not really sure. He’s been dating his best friend Tyler for 3 months, who doesn’t care if he picks a label or not. Now that he’s thinking about it, Tyler never really chose one for himself either. Josh’s anxiety is kicked into overdrive. 

 

Tyler is a christian, well so is Josh, sometimes. He’s not sure. When they first got together, Tyler had a hard time reconciling his faith with their relationship. His relationship with God was very important to him and Josh respected that even if he didn’t fully understand it. The first month of them officially being “together” was filled with many nights of Tyler crying and mumbled prayer heard through the gap in the bathroom door. Josh was so relieved when they had finally gotten past that point. Now he’s worried that they’re going back to square one. 

 

Josh tossed his phone from one hand to the other as he waited for Tyler to pick him up for their date. After the ominous text from his counterpart, he spent the rest of his shift moving boxes around in the back room. Anyone who dared to bother him was met with a glare and stoney silence. Josh figures it was better than them catching him crying over what could possibly be nothing. 

 

Tyler greeted him with a a bright smile and squeezed his hand tight, but no kiss. Tyler didn’t even kiss him on the cheek. Josh tapped his fingers on the windowsill for the entire ride. 

 

Josh looked for signs in Tyler’s body language while they ate. The younger man seemed happier, like he actually got some rest for once. He was humming along to the songs playing overhead as he chewed his food. Tyler’s cheeks were slightly flushed and Josh resisted the urge to stroke the younger man’s face with his thumb.Tyler tossed his straw wrapper at Josh’s forehead and pulled him out of his reverie. He sucked on his straw noisily, showing that he was finished and ready to go. Josh wanted to freeze this moment between them where everything felt so sure. He was sure he liked, no, loved Tyler, but he was unsure of what the future might hold. Uncertainty was his number one enemy. 

 

“We need to talk.” Those four words spoken out loud made Josh’s hand shake. Tyler caressed the older man’s calloused fingers, but it wasn’t enough to quell his nervous trembling. He tried to focus on what was being said, but all he caught was “I’ve been trying really hard…” and “I didn’t want to upset you…” and “…asexual.” Wait, what? Josh rubbed his temples, attempting to clear the fog from his mind.

 

Tyler was pacing now, as his boyfriend hadn’t spoken a word since he, technically, came out to him. He was a bit tense about the confession. He had finally gotten to be comfortable with the label himself, but he just now realized that this newfound fact about himself would have affect on the person he was dating as well. They’d been dating for 3 months and had barely done anything intimate beyond kissing. When things got hot and heavy, Tyler would excuse himself and escape to the bathroom to pray. 

 

It’s not that he didn’t find Josh attractive. The idea of doing anything sexual kind of freaked him out. At first he thought his discomfort stemmed from being with a guy, but he recalled uncomfortable make out sessions quickly ending with a string of apologies from his end with girls from his past. Tyler loved to cuddle. He loved being close with Josh, kissing his face and neck, but wandering hands to zippers and buttons made him feel nauseous. Tyler was very nauseous at the moment. He hadn’t noticed Josh’s arms wrapped around his small frame until he accidentally elbowed him in the ribs in his haste to get to the bathroom. In addition to coming out as asexual, he just injured his boyfriend as he tried to comfort him. This was going well.

 

“We need to talk.” Those four words coming from Josh’s own mouth tasted like a failed attempt at comfort, or maybe that was the tacos. He wasn’t sure. His boyfriend ignored the repeated tapping on the bathroom door, so Josh surrendered and leaned his head against the barrier between them. It’s not that Josh was upset about Tyler’s newfound sexuality, or lack thereof. He was more upset with himself for not noticing it sooner. He always assumed that Tyler’s discomfort stemmed from the fact that they were both men. Now that he thought about it, he remembered the younger man mentioning how scared he was to get too close with his ex, Jenna. He had assumed that concern came from Tyler’s desire to wait until marriage. Josh made a lot of assumptions that made him look like an ass. The whole day he had been worried that Tyler was going to break up with him. He had made it all about himself. His best friend, well boyfriend, but best friend first, is asexual. Huh. Josh’s head hit the white linoleum as Tyler swung open the door. 

 

Josh was dizzy. He blinked rapidly and reached for his head before realizing his fingers were laced with his boyfriends. Tyler removed the ice pack from the older man’s head and set it to the side. He was already anxious about coming out and he managed to hurt his boyfriend twice in the process. This was going really well. 

 

Josh was confused, but not because of his apparent head injury. He had never known anyone who identified as asexual, let alone dated someone. Josh was definitely sexual. He hadn’t slept with a lot of people, but when he did he really really enjoyed it. 

 

“We need to talk.” Josh’s words were followed by furrowed brow from both men. Tyler’s stomach was in knots. He was trying to explain what he felt comfortable with, but he couldn’t bear to look Josh in the eye. What “normal” guy would be satisfied with just cuddling, kissing, and the occasional hand job? Tyler didn’t like being touched, well sometimes, but not often. More than anything, Tyler enjoyed making his partner feel good. Seeing them come undone under his hands made his stomach swim in the best way, but not many people understood that. Everyone wanted to _touch_  him and he couldn’t handle it. What if Josh couldn’t handle it?

 

Josh could handle it. He had waited so long to finally be with Tyler that he wasn’t going to let this new experience scare him away. He wanted Tyler to be happy and comfortable and he would do whatever he could to make that happen. 

 

Josh ran his calloused thumbs over the worry lines on Tyler’s forehead. They didn’t need to talk anymore, at least not today. 

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to read a fic with an asexual character, so I wrote this. kudos and comments would be hella cool.


End file.
